Improvement in turbine wheels



J. STEWART.

WiTNEEIEEEJ:

Turbine-Wheels.

Patented Dec. 18,1877.

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IN ENTEI [U M $0M N PETERS, PNOTO-LITHOGRAPHER. WASMINGYON n c.

UNITED STATES PATENT QFFIGE.

JAMES STEWART, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN TURBINE WHEELS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 198,429, dated December18, 1877; application filed November 3, 1877.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES STEWART, of Pittsburg, in the county ofAllegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Turbine Wheels; and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains tomake and use it, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, whichform part of this specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in turbine wheels; and itconsists in the introduction of a rotating disk, by which the weight ofthe wheel and the downward pressure of the water upon the wheel arecounterbalanced and neutralized, so that the velocity of the motion ofthe wheel is not impeded by friction, as will be fully describedhereinafter.

The accompanying drawings represent my invention.

Arepresentsaturbine wheel, anda its shaft; B, the opening through whichthe water is admitted into the chamber G of the cylinder; G, the disk,of nearly the same diameter with the cylinder. This disk is secured tothe shaft a at a suitable distance above the wheel, and revolves withit. E, a chamber between the disk and top of the cylinder, and b b areescapes for water from E; c, a globular socket in the lower end of theshaft; 01, a globular gudgeon for the shaft to rest or revolve upon,supported by the arms h.

The water, when admitted through B and filling the chamber G, wouldpress in all directions alike; but, owing to the outlet downward betweenthe buckets of the wheel, the upward pressure overbalances the downward.The disk which forms the top of the chamber G is therefore acted againstwith greater force than the wheel at the bottom, and consequently pushedupward, and being secured to the shaft, the shaft would be lifted fromits position, together with the wheel, were it not held by a collar orother device, and confined in a limited space, with sufficient play onlyto lift both shaft and wheel enough to remove the great downwardpressure, and consequent friction, from the gudgeon upon which the shaftrevolves.

By the upward pressure a quantity of water is necessarily forced throughthe small inter stice unavoidably existing between the rotating disk andthe walls of the cylinder, and a downward pressure thus created on thetop of the disk would, to some extent, counteract the lifting powerunder it; but the escapes b I) carry off the water as fast as it passesby the disk into the chamber over it, and prevent such counteractingforce to accumulate.

The object of my invention is to remove from the wheel and shaft thegreat downward pressure, and consequent friction, which not only retardthe velocity of turbine wheels, but also cause the great wear of themachine.

The escapes b, of which there may be any number, lead the water from thechamber E, through tubes or pipes, into a tank or vessel containingwater. In this the ends of the conducting-pipes are submerged, toexclude the air from the outside. The air, after being expelled by thewater when entering the chamber E from below, is thus prevented fromresisting the flowing out of the escape-pipes.

Having thus described my invention, I claim The combination of thewheel-shaft a, having the disk 0 attached thereto, chamber E, and pipes11, the said pipes serving to convey the water from the chamber,substantially as shown.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand this29th day of October, 1877.

JAMES STEWART.

Witnesses:

T. F. LEHMANN, H. R. McCLELLAND.

